Toy airplane



Feb. 24, 1970 1 A. KOR-ONA 'I'OY AIRPLANE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 9,1968 INVENTOR. THEODORE moaoun BY v Feb. 24,1910 "1. A. KbRONA TOYAIRPLANE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 9, 1968 United States Patent3,496,671 TOY AIRPLANE Theodore A. Korona, 2144 E. Harrison Ave.,Latrobe, Pa. 15650 Filed Feb. 9, 1968, Ser. No. 704,331 Int. Cl. A63h27/14, 33/22; F41b 7/08 U.S. CI. 46-81 10 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE Toy airplane arrangement which includes a catapult devicefrom which the airplane is projected and wherein the airplane includesan ejection seat which is operated automatically when the airplane is apredetermined distance away from the catapult by a cord connected at oneend to the catapult and connected at its other end to a latch member onthe airplane which is withdrawn from the airplane by the cord so thatthe ejection seat will operation while the airplane continues in fllght.

This invention relates to a toy airplane arrangement and is particularlyconcerned with such an arrangement in which a plane is driven intoflight from a catapult.

A particular object of the present invention is the provision of a toyairplane and a catapult therefor in which the plane can be stronglycatalpulted so as to have a fairly long flight but in which themechanism is simple and safe to use.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a top airplanehaving an ejection seat which operates auto matically when thecatapulted airplane reaches a certain distance from the end of thecatapult.

Still another object is the provision of a toy airplane, especiallyadapted for being catapulted into flight, in which the plane is soconstructed that it is not easily damaged in case it flies against anobstruction or lands improperly.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of a toyairplane of the nature referred to which is relatively inexpensive toconstruct.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a toy airplane, and acatapult therefor, in which the airplane can readily be guided bymanipulation of the catapult.

The several objects referred to above, as well as other objects referredto above, as well as other objects and advantages of the presentinvention, will become more apparent upon reference to the followingdetailed specification taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view showing the catapult according to thepresent invention in full lines, and showing the airplane to becatapulted thereby in dot-dash outline;

FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal vertical section through the catapult withthe center portion broken away to permit the catapult to be drawn atincreased scale and also showing a portion of the airplane in dot-dashoutline;

FIGURE 3 is a view looking in from the left end of FIGURE 2 as indicatedby the arrow III thereon;

FIGURE 4 is a side view, partly broken away, of the airplane showing theejection seat and also showing the manner in which the wing of theairplane is releasablyconnected thereto;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view showing the pusher member on the bottomof the airplane which cooperates with a pusher element in the catapult;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view showing details in connection with theejection seat of the airplane;

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a modifiedarrangement of the ejection seat; and

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FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary view showing how the lid or cover for thecompartment containing the ejection seat could be arranged to hinge backinto a recess formed in the top of the fuselage of the airplane.

Referring to the drawings somewhat more in detail, FIGURES 1, 2 and 3will show that the catapult comprises an elongated slide member 10which, as will be best seen in FIGURE 3, might be described as aU-shaped member with the upper edges of the legs thereof turnedinwardly, as at 12, to form opposed guiding rails. Slide member 10 has ahandle 14 attached to one end thereof so that the catapult can be heldin the hand and pointed in the desired direction.

Slidable along slide member 10 on the rails 12 is a pusher member orpusher block 16 which has grooves 18 extending along opposite sidesthereof and into which grooves 18 the opposed rails 12 are looselyreceived. Block 16 is thus freely reciprocable along the slide member 10in order to catapult the airplane therefrom.

A pair of elongated springs 20 may extend along opposite sides of member10 and have their rear ends connected to a U-shaped wire 22 extendingthrough block 16 and their front ends connected to another U-shaped wire23 held in a clip 24 which is secured to the underneath side of theouter end of the catapult by a screw 26. Screw 26 may also be used forretaining a rubber bumper block 28 in place in the outer end of theslide member 10. Block 28 forms a stop for the pusher block 16 at theend of its movement in catapulting direction.

Metal clip 24 may also be availed of for connection to one end of tethercord 30 described more in detail hereinafter.

On the underside of block 16 is an element 32 engageable in a notch 34-in the upper end of trigger 36 which is pivoted at 38 on handle 14. Aspring 40 connected to the trigger at one end and to a portion on slidemember 10 at the other end biases the trigger toward its FIGURE 2position with such thrust that when block 16 is pulled backwardly in thecatapult to stress spring 20 and element 32 engages notch 34, the biasof spring 20 will not be sufficient to overcome spring 40. Block 16 canonly be released from engagement with notch 34 by manually pullingtrigger 36 backwardly about pivot 38.

It will be noted that the block 16 cannot be pulled backwardly past theupper end of trigger 36 due to the upstand-' ing portion of the triggerat the rear side of notch 34 while, however, movement of the lower endof trigger back toward the handle will release element 32 from notch 34and permit springs 20 to drive block 16 in the catapult direction.

The airplane for use with catapult is shown in dot-dash outline inFIGURES l and 2 and in full lines in FIGURE 4 and details thereof areshown in FIGURES 5 and 6.

In FIGURE 4 it will be noted that the airplane is formed of a block 50of light-weight material which may, advantageously, be foamedpolystyrene or the like. The airplane may be formed with an upstandingrudder portion 52 at the rear end which has a slot 54 at the upper endinto which the elevator or aeleron member 56 is detachably inserted. Onthe underside of fuselage 50 there is formed a notch 58 and disposed inthe notch is the block-like center portion 60 of the airplane wing 62.

Pins or protrusions 64 on the side of the fuselage of the airplane areavailed of for receiving the ends of rubberband 66 which passes underthe wing 62 adjacent the block-like center portion 60. A rubber-band 66on each side of the fuselage will thus retain wing 62 snugly in positionon the airplane fuselage. However, upon the airplane landing improperlyor striking an obstruction in flight, the rubber-bands will permitmovement of wings 62 on the fuselage of the airplane and this tends toprevent damage to the airplane or the airplane wing. For this pur- 3pose, the ends of notch 58 and of portion 60 could be tapered, ifdesired.

According to the present invention the airplane is provided on thebottom with a pusher member 70 which may have an upper portion 72recessed into a notch 74 in the bottom of the fuselage and having arearwardly extending lower portion 76 with longitudinal grooves 78 inthe opposite sides thereof. As may be determined from FIGURE 2, thenotches 78 are provided for receiving the edges of the opposed rails 12so that the airplane can be inserted into the front end of slide memberand moved backwardly therealong until the back end of pusher member 70abuts the front end of block 16. Thereafter, when block 16 is releasedfrom its tensioned position, in which it is shown in FIGURE 2, theairplane will be driven rapidly down the length of the catapult and outthe front end thereof.

The airplane fuselage according to the present invention has a cockpit,generally designated at 80, therein which may take the form of a bore inthe fuselage lined by a plastic liner 82. The bore in the fuselage mayextend vertically therein completely to the top of portion 72 of pushermember 70, if so desired. In the bottom of the cavity formed by the borein the liner 82 is a compression spring 84 which is anchored to thebottom of the cavity. The upper end of spring 84 engages beneath a plate86 to which the spring is preferably also anchored.

The space in the cockpit above plate 86, when the plate 86 is in itsFIGURE 4 position, may receive a folded parachute 88 to which isattached by the usual shroud-like arrangement a weight 90 which may, ofcourse, be in the form of a figurine or the like simulating an airplanepilot or passenger. It will be evident that when plate 86 is released tothe influence of spring 84, the parachute and weight 90 will be ejectedfrom the airplane through the upper open end of the cockpit.

The present invention employs a rod 92 fixed to plate 86 and extendingdownwardly through a hole 94 at the bottom of the fuselage so that thelower end of pin 92 is exposed when spring 84 is compressed. The lowerend of pin or rod 92 has an eye 96 therein adapted for loosely receivinga pull-pin 98. Pull-pin 98 extends through a hole 100 in pusher member70 and at its other end has an eye 102 to which the end of theaforementioned tether cord 30 is connected.

The cockpit may be closed by a cover member 104, if desired, which willbe dislodged from the upper end of the cockpit when spring 84 pushesplate 86 upwardly.

As will be seen in FIGURE 8, a cover 106 could be provided for a cockpit108 with the cover pivoted at 110 so that it could tilt backwardly intoa recess 112 provided in the top of the fuselage 114 of the airplane.

FIGURE shows a modification in which a cockpit 120 is so formed thatparachute 122 can be disposed behind the figurine 124 representing thepilot. In this modification, plate 126 could eject the figurine in whichcase the parachute would be pulled out by the shroud lines 128, or theplate could be of such a size that both the figurine and parachute couldbe ejected at one time by the plate.

The modification of FIGURE 7 permits a larger figurine to be employedand permits better action of the parachute upon ejection because it isunlikely to become fouled with the weight of the figurine as in the caseof the FIGURE 4 modification.

In operation, the parachute and figurine or weight are suitably arrangedfor insertion into the cockpit of the airplane and then are placed intothe cockpit and the plate at the bottom of the cockpit pushed downwardlyto its lower position. The pull-pin 98 can then be inserted to hold thespring loaded plate down in the cockpit. The catapult is then preparedby pulling block 16 back to the handle end of the catapult and latchingit to notch 34 in the upper end of trigger 36. The airplane is theninserted into the catapult till pusher element 76 engages the front endof block 16. The airplane can then be catapulted from the catapult bypulling back on trigger 36.

When the airplane reaches a position where tether line 30 goes taut,pull-pin 98 will be pulled from the airplane and the spring in thecockpit will be released and the contents of the cockpit will hesuddenly ejected. The flight of the airplane is not noticeably alteredWhen the tether cord goes taut, because the pull-pin 98 can be dislodgedfrom eye very easily. In this connection it may be of advantage to formthe pull-pin out of polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon) or some otherslippery material so that it can easily be jerked from the airplane bythe tether cord without materially modifying the flight pattern of theaircraf The ejected parachute or Weight, or figurine, thereon will beprojected upwardly from the cockpit and the parachute will open and theweight and parachute will then drift earthward.

It will be appreciated that rubber block 28 prevents the pusher member16 from being propelled from the front end of the catapult slide memberso that the device can be used in safety, even by fairly small children.

It will be evident that modifications in the structure could be madewithin the purview of the present invention. For example, the doublespring arrangement shown with a spring on each side of the catapultslide member, could be modified by a single spring located inside thecatapult slide member.

Furthermore, a compression spring rather than a tension spring could beemployed for the purpose of driving the pusher member along the catapultmember. Other modifications will suggest themselves to those skilled inthe art.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination; a toy airplane and a spring operated catapultlaunching device therefor, said launching device having handle means forthe support thereof and manually operable trigger means for releasingthe airplane therefrom, an upwardly opening compartment in said airplanehaving a moveable bottom, spring means urging said bottom upwardly inthe compartment, holding means for holding said bottom in loweredposition in the compartment against the bias of said spring means andincluding a latch element, said latch element being adapted to bewithdrawn from the airplane to release said bottom to the influence ofsaid spring means to eject the contents of said compartment from theairplane, and a tether cord having one end connected to said latchelement and its other end connected to said launching device wherebyupon launching of the airplane from the device the latch element will bewithdrawn from the airplane at a predetermined point along the flightpath of the airplane to eject the contents of said compartment from theairplane while the airplane will continue in flight after the saidejection.

2. The combination according to claim 1 in which said launching devicecomprises an elongated slide, said handle means being located at one endof said slide and said trigger means being adjacent said handle means, acatapult member slidable in the slide and adapted for driving engagementwith said airplane, a spring acting between the slide and catapultmember and urging said catapult member away from said one end of theslide toward the other end thereof, said catapult member including meansreleasably engageable by said trigger for latching the catapult memberin spring biased position adjacent said one end of the slide, and stopmeans in the slide near said other end thereof to retain the catapultmember in the slide upon release of the catapult member from its springbiased position by actuation of said trigger.

3. The combination according to claim 2 in which the contents of saidcompartment includes a parachute and a weight member connected thereto.

4. The combination according to ciaim 3 in which said compartment iselongated in the longitudinal directon of the airplane to permitplacement of the parachute in the compartment aft of said weight memberto substantially eliminate fouling of the parachute upon said ejection.

5. The combination according to claim 3 in which said airplane comprisesa fuselage portion and a wing portion, and means releasably connectingthe wing portion to the fuselage portion to permit ready separationthereof upon the wing portion meeting an obstruction during flight orlanding.

6. The combination according to claim 2 in which said holding meansincludes a rod-like element attached to said bottom and projecting fromthe lower side of the airplane when the bottom is in lowered position insaid compartment, said latch element being releasably engageable withthe region of said rod-like element which projects from the airplanewhen said bottom is in its said lowered position in said compartment,the engagement of said latch element with said rod-like element formingthe sole support of said latch element on the airplane whereby it willfall free of the airplane when it is released from said rod-likeelement.

7. The combination according to claim 6 in which said airplane is formedof a substantially rigid lightweight foamed plastic material.

8. The combination according to claim 2 in which said slide issubstantially U-shaped with the ends of the legs thereof formed inwardlytoward each other and said catapult member is in the form of a blockhaving grooves on the opposite sides slidably receiving the saidinwardly formed legs of the slide.

9. The combination according to claim 8 in which the actuating springfor said catapult member is disposed in the slide and has one endconnected to the catapult member and its other end connected to saidslide near the said other end thereof.

10. The combination according to claim 8 in which said stop means is inthe form of resilient means in the slide near said other end thereof andengageable by said catapult member as it approaches said other end ofsaid slide from said one end of the slide.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,887,337 11/1932 Spotz 46-812,089,594 8/1937 Ballwanz 468 1 2,708,431 5/1955 Walker 46-81 2,878,6153/ 1959 Burgin.

3,068,612 12/1962 Simpson 4681 3,084,477 4/ 1963 Whatley.

3,177,612 4/ 1965 Giossi 468l 3,238,663 3/1966 Barr.

F. BARRY SHAY, Primary Examiner I. W. MITCHELL, Assistant Examiner Us.01. X3. 46 -456; m -2

